Tender love of a tyrant. Ivan the Terrible and Anastasia

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John Vasilyevich, nicknamed Ivan the Great and went down in history as Ivan IV the Terrible, the son of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III and Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, was born on August 25, 1530 in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow.

According to the law then prevailing in Rus', the grand-ducal throne passed to the eldest son, but Ivan was only three years old when his father became very seriously ill. Yuri, Ivan’s brother, was still two years younger, and therefore the closest contenders to the throne were Vasily’s younger brothers, of whom two were still alive by that time: Yuri, Prince Dmitrovsky, born in 1480, and Andrei, Prince Staritsky and Volokolamsky , born in 1490.

Anticipating his imminent death, Vasily III formed a special boyar commission to govern the state, which was supposed to take care of Ivan until he came of age. The guardianship council included Prince Andrei Staritsky, Prince Mikhail Lvovich Glinsky, governors brothers Vasily Vasilyevich and Ivan Vasilyevich Shuisky, boyar Mikhail Yuryevich Zakharyin and several other people.

The Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III died on December 3, 1533, and a few weeks later the boyars got rid of the main contender for the throne - Yuri, Prince Dmitrovsky (he was arrested and died in 1536 in prison, and his inheritance was annexed to the Principality of Moscow).

The Guardian Council ruled the country for less than a year, after which its power began to weaken. In August 1534, a number of changes took place in the ruling circles.

On August 5, Prince Mikhail Lvovich Glinsky was arrested, and he very soon died in prison. In the same month, another member of the guardianship council, Mikhail Vorontsov, was also arrested.

Analyzing the events of August 1534, the historian S. M. Solovyov concludes that “all this was a consequence of the general indignation of the nobles against Elena and her favorite Obolensky.”

The attempt of Prince Andrei Staritsky to seize power in 1537 ended in failure. Elena Glinskaya, the widow of Vasily III, ordered her favorite, Prince Ivan Fedorovich Telepnev-Ovchina-Obolensky, to seize him. Prince Andrei fled to Novgorod, but was stopped and forced to surrender. Then he was tried in Moscow and thrown into prison along with his entire family. There he died a few months later (December 11, 1537).

And on April 4, 1538, Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya herself, who was only thirty years old, suddenly died.

Thus, the future Ivan the Terrible, having lost his father at the age of three, and his mother at seven, became a complete orphan. He grieved inconsolably, and nearby, right in the palace, without hiding, the boyars were having fun...

God bless! I finally cleaned up the damned German woman...

Of course, Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya was not German. She came from a Lithuanian princely family, presumably of Tatar origin, which had nothing in common with the Polish noble family of Gliński, which still exists today. However, Prince Mikhail Lvovich Glinsky, whose name has already been mentioned, was brought up at the court of the German emperor and converted to Catholicism. When King Sigismund I the Old ascended the throne, he raised an uprising against him (it is believed that he was trying to create a power independent of the Polish-Lithuanian crown in eastern Ukraine), and then, having suffered defeat, fled to Moscow.

But for the Russian boyars he remained a German for the rest of his life, just as his niece Elena Glinskaya was German for them. Surprisingly, the Russians have always had it this way: whoever loves order and knows how to work is a German.

She did not respect the Old Russian covenants; she introduced German customs. Isn't it a sin? - they burned the deceased boyars.

Sin, great sin. And she herself, the disgrace, committed adultery with Prince Ivan Ovchina-Obolensky...

Young Ivan Vasilyevich heard such speeches and, angrily clenching his fists, hissed under his breath:

Oooh, mangy dogs... Wait, when I go into summer, I’ll cut off everyone’s heads...

Less than a week after the death of Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, the boyars - the Shuisky princes with their advisers - got rid of Obolensky. He and his sister Agrafena were captured - he died in captivity from lack of food and the severity of his shackles, and she was exiled to Kargopol and tonsured a nun.

Metropolitan Daniel of Moscow and All Rus', a staunch supporter of a centralized state and an active associate of Elena Glinskaya, was immediately removed from government and sent to a monastery, where he died in 1547.

The so-called guardians behaved mockingly and impudently. They mercilessly plundered the state treasury and fought for a place at the throne. No one cared about the young Ivan Vasilyevich. Forgotten and abandoned by everyone, he wandered around the palace and accumulated hatred for everything that surrounded him.

* * *

In August 1545, with the onset of his fifteenth birthday, Ivan Vasilyevich began to be considered an adult. In the 16th century, it was at this age that noble children entered the military service, and the children of the nobility received lower court positions. Ivan Vasilyevich was, of course, a person of a special kind and could already become the full-fledged ruler of a vast and powerful state, but he turned out to be ill-prepared to perform this function, and he was surrounded by rather random people.

But just over a year passed, and on December 13, 1546, sixteen-year-old Ivan Vasilyevich suddenly expressed his intention to get married for the first time, but before that he declared that he wanted to be crowned king “following the example of his ancestors.”

Some historians believe that the initiative to accept the royal title simply could not come from a sixteen-year-old boy. Professor R. G. Skrynnikov, for example, writes: “In reality, the initiative for the coronation belonged not to Ivan, but to those people who ruled in his name.”

Most likely, it is believed that Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow and All Rus', who was elevated to the metropolitan throne in 1542, played a major role in this.

The ancient Byzantine Empire with its rulers has always been a model for Orthodox countries, but it fell under the blows of the infidels. Moscow, in the eyes of the Orthodox, was to become the heir of Constantinople - Constantinople. For the same Metropolitan Macarius, the triumph of autocracy personified the triumph of the Orthodox faith, so he tried.

The outstanding Russian historian V. O. Klyuchevsky takes a different point of view, noting Ivan Vasilyevich’s early desire for power. In his opinion, “the tsar’s political thoughts were developed in secret from those around him.”

In any case, the idea of a royal wedding came as a complete surprise to the boyars. According to V. O. Klyuchevsky, while still almost a child, Ivan Vasilyevich spoke to the boyars “so thoughtfully, with such prudent political considerations” that they even “burst into tears with emotion that the tsar was so young, and had already thought so much, without consulting anyone, hiding from everyone.”

* * *

The wedding ceremony took place on January 16, 1547 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. After the solemn service, Metropolitan Macarius placed the Monomakh cap, a symbol of royal dignity, on Ivan Vasilyevich’s head. Then the young king was anointed with myrrh, and then received the blessing of the metropolitan.

It was believed that Monomakh's hat was a gift from the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX to his grandson, the Kyiv prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, which symbolized the continuity of power of Russian rulers from the Byzantine emperors. In fact, this origin of the cap-symbol is extremely doubtful: Emperor Constantine died in 1055, when Vladimir was only two years old, and the likelihood that he would receive Kyiv was very doubtful.

Be that as it may, whether on his own or on the initiative of the people who ruled in his name, Ivan Vasilyevich marked his coming of age by accepting the title of Tsar Ivan IV.

The royal title was great value. He, in particular, allowed Ivan Vasilyevich to take a completely different position in diplomatic relations with Western Europe, after all, the grand ducal title was translated simply as “prince” or even “grand duke”, while the title “king” in the European hierarchy stood on a par with the title “emperor”.

And in the eyes of Ivan Vasilyevich himself, the change of title became an important milestone in his life. Remembering those days, he wrote that he himself undertook to build his kingdom, and “by God’s grace the beginning was good.” Crowned with the royal title, becoming Ivan IV, he appeared before his people as the successor of the Roman Caesars and God's anointed on earth.

* * *

After the crowning ceremony, Ivan Vasilyevich’s relatives achieved great privileges for themselves. In particular, the Tsar's grandmother Anna Yakshich (in her marriage, Glinskaya was the wife of Prince Vasily Lvovich Glinsky and the mother of Elena Glinskaya) and her children received extensive land holdings as an appanage principality. Prince Mikhail was declared the Tsar's equerry, and his brother Prince Yuri became a boyar.

Thus, the coronation of Ivan Vasilyevich did not essentially put an end to boyar rule. In fact, there was only a change in the boyar groups at the helm of power. However, it did not become final; rather, it was a kaleidoscope in which the short-term period of dominance of the Glinskys was replaced by the dominance of the Shuiskys, and those... However, first things first.

N. M. Karamzin writes about this: “He [Ivan Vasilyevich. - N.S.] loved to show himself as a king, but not in matters of wise rule, but in punishments, in the unbridled whims; played, so to speak, with favors and disgraces: multiplying the number of favorites, he multiplied the number of rejected ones even more; he was self-willed to prove his independence, and still depended on the nobles, because he did not work in the organization of the kingdom and did not know that a truly independent sovereign is only a virtuous sovereign. Russia has never been governed worse: the Glinskys, like the Shuiskys, did what they wanted in the name of the young sovereign; enjoyed honors, wealth and indifferently saw the infidelity of private rulers; they demanded servility from them, not justice.”

The Glinskys were finished off in 1547. First, Yuri Vasilyevich Glinsky, the son of Anna Yakshich-Glinskaya, died, and then she herself fell victim to a “malicious slander” in the arson of Moscow.

The fact is that in June 1547 Moscow was devastated terrible fire. Then about two thousand people and almost all the property of Muscovites died in the flames. The enemies of the Glinskys hastened to take advantage of this disaster in order to get rid of them. Ivan Vasilyevich was informed that Moscow burned down not just like that, but because of malicious intent. The king ordered an investigation. To do this, the Shuiskys gathered the mob into the Kremlin and began to ask: who set Moscow on fire?

Princess Anna with the children,” came the answer. “She did magic, took out human hearts and put them in water, and sprinkled them with that water, driving around the city - that’s why Moscow burned out.

It's complete nonsense, of course. But the mass of the people are stupid, and any power for the mob is essentially hateful. And when the people are stupid, they are easy to control, which is what the Shuiskys took advantage of, who understood perfectly well that the mob is ready to throw mud at anyone, just give them a reason for this.

Yuri Glinsky, who was present, seeing that trouble was brewing, immediately hid in the Assumption Cathedral. However, an angry crowd rushed after him, dragged him out of the church and tore him to pieces.

Writer A. A. Bushkov says: “After this, a bacchanalia began - three days of crowd revelry, which none of the boyars who were in Moscow thought of stopping. They plundered the house of the murdered man and the homes of other Glinskys, killed all the Glinsky slaves who came to hand. In the heat of the moment, they also killed several completely strangers - “children of boyars from the Seversk land”, whom someone called Glinsky’s close associates, but the angry crowd did not check their registration documents.”

Anna Glinskaya herself with her other son, Mikhail Vasilyevich, was in Rzhev at that time. The completely distraught mob, not satisfied with the murder of Yuri, came to the royal palace on the third day, demanding the extradition of the king’s grandmother and her son. For some reason, people thought that the “culprits of the fire” were hidden in Ivan Vasilyevich’s chambers. But the future Ivan the Terrible never liked such treatment. In response, he ordered the instigators to be captured and executed immediately, while everyone else fled to their homes. As E. S. Radzinsky notes, “the true grandson of Ivan the Third, he already understood his people: a kingdom without a thunderstorm, like a horse without a bridle.”

What ultimately happened to Anna Glinskaya and her second son is not known for sure. They clearly survived the uprising of 1547, but then their traces were lost. According to one version, Ivan the Terrible’s grandmother died around 1553, having previously taken monastic vows under the name of sister Anisya.

As for Mikhail Vasilyevich Glinsky, he fled to Lithuania. Then he suddenly turned out to be the Novgorod governor and began to ruin the neighboring Pskov region, for which he was caught, all the loot was taken away and he was sent into retirement. Soon, around 1559, he was gone.

* * *

After his crowning, Ivan Vasilyevich decided to get married.

A. A. Bushkov discusses this matter as follows: “It was not just a matter of the young man’s natural aspirations. From time immemorial in Rus' it was believed that true adulthood does not come upon reaching a certain age, but only after marriage (which can follow even before the formal age of majority). A single person was considered not even quite full-fledged.”

They say that the future Ivan the Terrible learned what a woman was at the age of thirteen. The boyars, trying to distract the heir to the throne from more important matters, vied with each other to arrange “love contacts” for him. Thanks to this, the young man changed his mistresses almost every day. In just four years, the boyars placed several hundred girls under him, who, for the most part, were very experienced in love spells. The early-formed man did not refuse anyone or anything, and as a result, the boyars formed the opinion about Ivan Vasilyevich that he loved cheerful, lively and very passionate women.

The first thought was to look for a bride “in other kingdoms,” but, after thinking more thoroughly, this thought was discarded. Deprived of his parents in infancy and raised as an orphan, the king might not get along well with a foreign woman.

I wish to find a bride in Rus',” said sixteen-year-old Ivan Vasilyevich.

Metropolitan Macarius answered with emotion:

God Himself inspired in you the intention so desired for your subjects! I bless it in the name of the Heavenly Father.

After this, in February 1547, a full-fledged review of brides was organized, to which applicants were brought from all over Rus'. But first, the messengers carried “letters of letters” throughout the kingdom, addressed to the entire Russian nobility. They said the following: “When this letter of ours comes to you, and you will have girl daughters among you, then you would immediately go with them to the city to our governors for a review, and under no circumstances would you keep the girls’ daughters with you.” concealed. Whoever of you hides the girl’s daughter and is not lucky enough to visit our governors will be in great disgrace and execution from me. Send the letter among yourselves, without delaying an hour.”

In fact, regarding the choice of a bride, Ivan Vasilyevich repeated the same method that was used during the first marriage of his father, Vasily III, and which already existed among the Byzantine emperors. In total, about one and a half thousand “daughters of girls” were gathered for the viewing.

A. A. Bushkov ironically calls this “the first all-Russian “beauty contest” in our history, held in two stages”: first, the governors looked for the most beautiful ones locally, and only then the young tsar personally reviewed the “finalists.”

One must think that the contenders themselves reacted to this event with great enthusiasm - at least those of them whose hearts were free. In fact, a very enviable “prize” awaited the most successful of them.

From the huge crowd of collected beauties, Ivan Vasilyevich chose Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva, and this amazed everyone. Hawthorns from all over the kingdom, smiling coquettishly, tried in every way to attract the king’s attention, and he chose the one whose modesty caused only ridicule from everyone. Apparently, despite all the ugliness of the conditions in which the young man’s childhood passed, somewhere in the most secluded corner of his soul there was still a faint spark smoldering - a dream of serene and quiet happiness.

* * *

So, Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva was chosen.

It is generally accepted that the Zakharyin family was not one of the most noble, although in fact this was not entirely true. Historians L. E. Morozova and B. N. Morozov write about this: “The Zakharyins lived in Kitaigorod, served at the Grand Duke’s court and were constantly present at holidays in the Kremlin cathedrals.”

They clarify that one of the reasons for Anastasia’s election “could have been her nobility and closeness to the Grand Duke’s court.”

From N.M. Karamzin, regarding the Zakharyins’ family, we read: “Their family descended from Andrei Kobyla, who came to us from Prussia in the 14th century. But it was not the nobility, but the personal merits of the bride that justified this choice, and contemporaries, depicting her properties, attributed to her all the feminine virtues for which they only found a name in the Russian language: chastity, humility, piety, sensitivity, kindness, combined with a thorough mind, not to mention beauty, for it was already considered a necessary accessory for a happy royal bride.”

Anastasia's father, Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin-Koshkin-Yuryev, the son of the boyar Yuri Zakharyevich Zakharyevich Zakharyin-Koshkin and the noblewoman Irina Ivanovna Tuchkova, was a guard under the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, who died in 1505. He appeared at court infrequently, but only for the reason that he constantly performed the duties of a governor in some big city.

For some reason, many authors write that Roman Yuryevich was an unremarkable person. However, the okolnichy in Rus' is the second (after the boyar) rank of the Boyar Duma - the highest council, consisting of representatives of the feudal aristocracy. Usually the okolnichy headed orders (the so-called central government bodies) or regiments. So “an unremarkable person” is a clear understatement.

But Anastasia’s uncle, Mikhail Yuryevich Zakharyin, was, as they would say now, much cooler. He served as an adviser to the Grand Duke and, as L. E. Morozova and B. N. Morozov note, was nicknamed “the eye of Vasily III.” As we have already said, he even included him in the guardianship council under his little son Ivan, so the future Ivan the Terrible knew the family of the future bride from childhood.

Let us also note this important fact: Anastasia, who became the first and most beloved wife of Ivan the Terrible, was the daughter of Roman Yuryevich, and it was from this name that the surname (or rather, nickname) of the Romanovs arose.

* * *

With the origin of this royal family I would like to understand it in more detail.

The first reliable ancestor of the Romanov family is Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla, a boyar of the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita, who ruled in 1325–1340.

Andrei Ivanovich had five sons: Semyon Zherebets, Alexander Yolka, Vasily Ivantey, Gavriil Gavsha and Fedor Koshka. They were the founders of many Russian noble families. For example, Semyon Zherebets became the founder of the famous Konovnitsyn family, Alexander Yolka became the founder of the Kolychevs, Neplyuevs and Boborykins, and from Fyodor Koshka came the Romanovs and Sheremetevs.

Fyodor Andreevich Koshka died in 1407, his son Ivan Fedorovich Koshkin - in 1427, and his grandson Zakhary Ivanovich Koshkin - in 1461.

The children of Zakhary Ivanovich Koshkin became Zakharyin-Koshkin. From Yuri Zakharyevich, who died in 1504, came the Zakharyins-Yuryevs, and from his brother Yakov Zakharyevich, who died in 1510, the Zakharyins-Yakovlevs.

Yuri Zakharyevich Zakharyin-Koshkin, a boyar since 1483, had six children, one of whom was Roman Yuryevich, Anastasia's father.

Information about the life of Roman Yuryevich is very scarce. It is only known that he was married twice. From these marriages he had children Danila, Nikita, Anna and Anastasia.

Anastasia was the youngest of Roman Yuryevich’s two daughters from his marriage to Princess Ulyana Fedorovna Litvinova-Mosalskaya.

Of all Anastasia’s brothers, the most famous was Nikita Romanovich, a participant in the Swedish campaign of 1551, a governor during the Lithuanian campaign of 1559 (he would later become the founder of the royal Romanov dynasty).

A. A. Bushkov, in his characteristic manner, writes: “The royal chosen one turned out to be Anastasia Yuryeva-Zakharyina, the first Romanova. Subsequently, when the Romanov dynasty, which had only this fact to justify its “rights,” established itself on the Russian throne, a powerful propaganda campaign was launched with the goal of extolling the Romanov ancestors as much as possible, who supposedly played a significant role in the history of Russia. It was even argued that Anastasia’s parents and her other relatives had such love and authority among the Russian people that this allegedly influenced the tsar’s choice...

Fairy tales, of course. The royal choice could have been influenced by in this case exclusively the beauty of the girl, and nothing more: forgive the vulgarity, but young man I didn’t want to go to bed with the “high reputation” of the Yuryevs-Zakharyins.”

Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin-Koshkin-Yuryev, Anastasia’s father, died on February 16, 1543. He was buried in the family crypt of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow, which is located behind Taganka, on Krutitsky Hill.

Modern studies of the skeleton of Anastasia Romanovna’s father showed that he was 178–183 cm tall and suffered from Paget’s disease (the so-called pathological process in the skeletal system caused by metabolic disorders).

* * *

After the death of her father, Anastasia lived with her mother, Princess Ulyana Fedorovna.

The future queen was famous for her beauty from a young age. Being very short, she had regular facial features, long thick dark brown hair and, presumably, dark eyes.

In 1550, the tsar granted Adashev a okolnichy and at the same time gave him a speech by which it is best to judge his attitude towards his favorites: “Alexey, I took you from the poor and from the youngest people. I wished for you, and not only you, but also others like you, so that you would satisfy my sadness. I instruct you to accept petitions from the poor and offended and analyze them carefully. Do not be afraid of the strong who destroy the poor and weak with their violence. Do not look at the false tears of the poor who slander the rich, but consider everything carefully and bring the truth to us, fearing only the judgment of God.”

In the internal affairs of the state, Adashev’s activities can be characterized by the words of Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbsky: “He was extremely useful to the common thing.”

It must be said that after the wedding, the king brought many new people closer to him. In 1547, for example, Ivan Mikhailovich Zakharyin-Yuryev, Anastasia’s cousin, Grigory Yuryevich Zakharyin-Yuryev, her uncle, received boyarhood, and her brother Danila Romanovich and Fyodor Grigorievich Adashev became okolnichy. Representatives of the Adashev family never entered the Duma, but an exception was made for Father Alexei Adashev.

The Zakharyins headed the Bolshoi and Tver Palaces, and Fyodor Adashev headed the Uglich Palace, which was a very high appointment.

* * *

No matter how cool the character of Ivan Vasilyevich was, no matter how often his mood changed, according to the chroniclers, “Anastasia instructed and led him to all sorts of virtues.”

From his youth, the tsar was famous for his unbridledness, but still sometimes listened to Anastasia Romanovna. In fact, she was probably the only one he listened to.

Jerome Horsey writes about her this way: “This queen was so wise, virtuous, pious and influential that she was revered and loved by all her subordinates.”

At the same time, as this Englishman notes, Ivan Vasilyevich “was young and hot-tempered, but she controlled him with amazing meekness and intelligence.”

According to N.M. Karamzin, with Anastasia, Ivan Vasilyevich “enjoyed complete family happiness, based on love for his tender and virtuous wife.”

* * *

In his first marriage, Ivan Vasilyevich had six children.

The eldest were girls: Anna was born on August 10, 1549, and Maria on March 17, 1551. Both of them died without living even a year.

Dmitry Ivanovich, the first Russian prince, was born in October 1552.

When the queen's son was born, Ivan Vasilyevich hurried to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where the monks baptized the baby. As soon as winter ended and the first days of spring arrived, the king fell ill with a “severe fiery illness”, and in the event of his death, the throne was to be inherited by the baby Dmitry.

A. A. Bushkov writes about this: “The king drew up a “spiritual letter,” that is, a will. It has not reached the present day, but historians have no doubt that, having declared his son Dmitry heir to the throne, the tsar transferred regency powers to Queen Anastasia and her closest relatives, the boyars Zakharyin-Yuryev, Vasily and Danila. This was the most logical step: both in this case would protect not just the queen and relative, but also their own well-being. That's where it started..."

The nearby Duma, consisting of the most trusted persons, immediately took an oath in the name of the heir. The general oath of all members of the Duma was scheduled for March 12, 1553.

The ceremony was held in the front hut of the royal palace, where the king sent Prince Vladimir Ivanovich Vorotynsky and Ivan Mikhailovich Viskovaty with a cross. The solemn beginning was overshadowed by the fact that the senior boyar of the Duma, Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Shuisky, refused to take the oath. “It is impossible to kiss the cross,” he said, “and in front of whom should one kiss it, if the sovereign is not here?”

Prince Shuisky's protest was purely formal. The oath could be administered either by the tsar himself or by senior boyars. Instead, the ceremony was entrusted to Prince Vorotynsky, who was a simple boyar.

Speaking after Prince Shuisky, Fyodor Grigoryevich Adashev addressed the Duma with the following statement: “God knows, we kiss the cross of the sovereign and his son Tsarevich Dmitry, but it is not fitting for us to serve the Zakharyins. Your son, Sovereign Father, is still in diapers, and the Zakharins will rule us, but we have already seen many troubles from the boyars.”

This meant that Adashev Sr. unequivocally spoke out in favor of swearing allegiance to the rightful heir, but at the same time expressed distrust of the tsar’s new relatives, the Zakharyins. And he can be understood, because the Zakharyins were already ready to establish the regency of Queen Anastasia (similar to the regency of Elena Glinskaya), in order to govern the state themselves in the event of the death of the king. However, the highest nobility had no intention of ceding power to the queen and her relatives.

* * *

And then this is what happened: Tsarevich Dmitry died six months later, on June 4, 1553, believed to be due to an absurd accident. He drowned during his parents’ trip on a pilgrimage to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, located on the shores of Lake Siverskoye (within modern city Kirillov, Vologda region).

It is alleged that during the descent of the royal family from the plow, the carelessly laid gangplank overturned. The place was shallow, and the adults were able to get out of the water, but the baby choked and could not be saved.

A. A. Bushkov is categorical about this: “This, of course, is nonsense. The baby choked when he found himself in the water, this is true, but it was not the father and mother who let him out of their hands, but the nanny. You can often read that “the nurse dropped the baby into the water.” However, everything was a little different...

From the side of the river vessel to the shore there were literally capital gangways thrown, wide and massive enough to withstand the weight of three adults walking side by side. The Tsarevich was held in the arms of a nurse, and she was supported on both sides with the greatest attention by the elbows by those same Tsarina’s relatives, “uncles” Danila and Vasily.”

As we can see, the author directly points to Queen Anastasia’s brother Danila and her cousin Vasily Mikhailovich, the son of Mikhail Yuryevich Zakharyin - the same one who was an adviser to Vasily III and was on the guardianship council under the minor Ivan Vasilyevich.

Further A. A. Bushkov writes: “The gangplank collapsed, all three ended up in the water. No harm happened to the adults, but the baby choked... Agree, this is much more complicated than the primitive “the nurse dropped it.” And the question immediately automatically arises: how did it happen that these same gangplanks collapsed, heavy and reliable, designed not to carry cabbage along them - to ensure the safety of the prince?

History has never given a clear answer to this matter - at least no explanations have been preserved in the documents of that time. But Grozny subsequently, for some reason, seriously blamed... Alexei Adashev for the accident. Details are unknown."

By the way, one of the chronicles claims that the death of the prince was predicted to Ivan Vasilyevich by Maxim the Greek, who came to Moscow from Greece at the invitation of Vasily III to translate ancient church books, whom the king had recently visited at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. According to the testimony of Prince Andrei Kurbsky, this same Maxim the Greek, dissuading the Tsar from going on a pilgrimage to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, “did not advise him to go to such long journey with his wife and newborn child."

Why didn't you advise? There is no clear answer to this question either.

Be that as it may, the first Russian prince was buried in the Moscow Archangel Cathedral, in the same grave with his grandfather Vasily III.

* * *

The fate of this son of Ivan the Terrible ultimately also turned out tragic.

He grew up happily, accompanied his father on campaigns, took part in the government, in receiving ambassadors, in executions, although he did not play any significant political role. In 1574–1575, however, he was proposed as a candidate for the Polish crown, but the gentry preferred the candidacy of the Transylvanian prince Stefan Batory, supported by the Turkish Sultan.

Tsarevich Ivan was married three times. His first wife was Evdokia Saburova, his second was Paraskeva Solovaya. Both of them were sent to a monastery due to childlessness on the orders of Ivan the Terrible, although “the son lamented this.”

The third wife was Elena Sheremeteva, the daughter of Ivan Vasilyevich Sheremetev, one of the few experienced governors who survived the oprichnina years.

The wedding took place in 1581.

Professor R. G. Skrynnikov writes about this: “The Tsarevich may have chosen his third wife, Elena Sheremeteva, himself: the Sheremetev family was disgusting to the Tsar. One of Princess Elena’s uncles (Nikita, 1563) was executed by royal decree, another, whom the king called “the demonic son,” ended up in a monastery (Ivan the Bolshoi, 1569). The tsar publicly accused Elena's father of treasonous relations with the Crimean Khan. The only surviving uncle of the princess was captured by the Poles and, as Russian messengers reported, not only swore allegiance to the king, but also gave him treacherous advice to strike Velikiye Luki. Boyar “treason” has once again crept into the royal house.”

The prince was finally lucky with his third wife: she became pregnant. However, Ivan Ivanovich himself suddenly died, and this happened in November 1582, when he was only twenty-eight years old. According to the official version, he was mortally wounded by his father during a quarrel in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda (according to the most common point of view, the quarrel occurred on November 14, and the prince died on November 19, although a number of sources indicate other dates).

The temporary record of clerk Ivan Timofeev contains the following information about the death of the prince: “His life was extinguished by a blow from his father’s hand because he wanted to keep his father from some unseemly act.”

What kind of action was this?

According to one version, Ivan the Terrible, having met his daughter-in-law, who was already expecting a child, in one of the inner chambers, attacked her with abuse for finding her lying on a bench in only her underwear (in an underdress). In fact, it was not her fault at all: she was pregnant and did not think that anyone would come to her.

The Italian Antonio Possevino, the first Jesuit, who arrived in Moscow from Mantua in February 1582 to conduct public debates about faith, tells us what happened next. He writes: “The prince hit her in the face, and then beat her so much with his staff, which was with him, that the next night she threw the boy out. At this time, son Ivan ran in to his father and began to ask not to beat his wife, but this only attracted his father’s anger and blows. He was very seriously wounded in the head, almost in the temple, with the same staff. Before this, in anger at his father, the son hotly reproached him in the following words: “You imprisoned my first wife in a monastery for no reason, did the same with the second wife, and now you are beating the third in order to destroy the son she is carrying in her womb.” .

According to Antonio Possevino, Ivan the Terrible (he calls him prince) was outraged by the following: “All noble and rich women, according to local custom, must be dressed in three dresses, thick or light depending on the time of year. If they wear one, they get a bad reputation.”

It turns out that Ivan Ivanovich tried to stand up for his pregnant wife, and the king, in anger, hit him in the temple with the sharp tip of his staff. As a result, the frightened woman lost the fetus, and the prince died a few days later.

According to another version, the cause of the fatal collision was not offensive to Ivan the Terrible appearance daughter-in-law, and his sexual harassment of her.

This is how N.M. Karamzin describes these events: “This unfortunate man fell, bleeding profusely. Here Ioannov’s rage disappeared. Turning pale with horror, in awe, in a frenzy, he exclaimed: “I killed my son!” - and rushed to hug and kiss him; kept the blood out deep ulcer; cried, sobbed, called doctors; I prayed to God for mercy, my son for forgiveness. But the heavenly judgment was accomplished!.. The Tsarevich kissed his father’s hands, tenderly expressing love and compassion to him; urged him not to give in to despair; said that he was dying as a faithful son and subject..."

According to Antonio Possevino, “having wounded his son, the father immediately gave in to deep grief and immediately called doctors from Moscow,” but “on the fifth day the son died and was transferred to Moscow amid general grief.”

Ivan the Terrible followed the body and even walked on foot when approaching Moscow.

* * *

The murder of a son is a seemingly obvious question and, for the modern philistine consciousness, completely resolved. In addition, the skull found during the opening of the burial of Ivan Ivanovich turned out to be in very poor condition, which seemed to confirm the version of the murder of the prince by his own father.

However, some historians began to declare that various versions of Ivan the Terrible’s murder of his son are unfounded and unproven, that “it is impossible to find even a hint of their authenticity in the entire mass of documents and acts that have reached us.”

And indeed it is. In various chronicles it is said that Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich “passed away”, that “the Tsarevich passed away”, etc. But in all these chronicles there is no hint of murder.

The French captain Jacques Margeret, who served with Boris Godunov, generally wrote: “There is a rumor that he killed the eldest with his own hand, which happened differently, since although he hit him with the end of the staff […] and he was wounded by the blow, he died It’s not because of this, but some time later, on a pilgrimage trip.”

As we see, the quarrel between the king and his son and the death of the prince are separated in time.

Only the so-called Mazurin chronicler connects the death of the prince and the quarrel with his father: “The Tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich his great son, the Tsarevich Prince Ivan Ivanovich, with wise meaning and shining grace, like an immature dream, I was cut off by the white air and from the branch of life I tore away the rest of my life, oh I say to him that his illness comes from his father, and from his illness comes death.”

True, even here a caveat follows that these are just rumors (“the verbs are about him”), and the quarrel and the death of the prince are connected indirectly, that is, through illness.

Numerous historians of the 19th and 20th centuries judge Ivan the Terrible more harshly and more unequivocally. M.P. Pogodin, in particular, writes: “He carried out his terrible executions by killing, albeit unintentionally, his own beloved son, in whom he also imagined treason, like in the boyars: he hit him on the head with a rod, and he rolled dead on land."

The words of Kazimir Waliszewski repeat the above almost word for word: “The Terrible flared up and swung his staff. The mortal blow was dealt to the prince directly in the temple. The crime was committed by the king without intent. But it still went beyond what his contemporaries were accustomed to.”

Similar stories There are many in historical literature. However, there are completely different opinions.

From A.A. Bushkov we read: “Now - about the famous murder of his son Ivan by Ivan the Terrible, which again “everyone knows” (fortunately, the “canonical version” is supported by the famous painting by Repin...).

According to the canonical version, the matter looked like this. Ivan the Terrible, hanging around the palace with nothing to do, walked into the chambers of the prince’s wife without knocking and saw that she was lying in only a thin shirt due to the heat, which, according to the norms of that time, was an unacceptable violation of decency. The enraged zealot of morality began to beat his pregnant daughter-in-law with a staff, and Tsarevich Ivan, who came running to the noise and tried to protect his wife, was hit in the temple with the sharp end of the staff, which is why Ivan died (which is depicted in Repin’s canvas). Another atrocity of an insane sadist, in a word...

Experts in Russian history and Russian customs have long looked at this story with extreme disapproval. This, I must tell you, took place in November - not the best time to walk around in one shirt (and the buildings of that time were not heated so well that they were at resort temperatures). Moreover: a more or less noble or wealthy woman (not to mention the wife of the prince and heir to the throne) usually lived in the “mansion,” the female half, which was always locked with a key, and the key was in the husband’s pocket. The Kremlin Palace of the Russian Tsars did not at all resemble a communal apartment, and even the All-Russian autocrat could not accidentally wander into the women's quarters. Where, moreover, there were a lot of maids who would not allow anyone outside to see their half-dressed mistress...

In general, this “kitchen-communal” version was launched at one time by the Italian Possevino, to put it mildly, by no means a well-wisher of Grozny. And the “deadly blow with a rod” was described by none other than Horsey, which somewhat depreciates this “evidence.”

The sentimental Karamzin passes over the story of the heir’s “discolored” wife in silence, but depicts how the “tyrant”, no longer in private, but in front of witnesses, mercilessly killed his son with a staff. For what? And allegedly for his request to send him with an army to recapture Pskov from the enemy. Hearing such a request, the king, according to Karamzin, decided that the prince wanted to overthrow him from the throne, and he became furious...

In some versions, it is not a blow with a baton that appears, but a slap in the face, after which the prince (nervous, presumably, like a schoolgirl) became so upset that he died of resentment...

The prince, by the way, is portrayed differently by different storytellers, depending on their goals. They say that he was not inferior to his father in tyranny and depravity, that he and his father allegedly even exchanged mistresses (but since the latter circumstance appeared in Oderborn’s book, there is little faith in him). Others, on the contrary, claim that the prince was such a noble and humane hothouse flower - that is why he aroused the wrath of his stern father, a sadist and despot...

Was there a blow from the staff at all? It is impossible to say this reliably. The Russian chronicles that have reached us about the “fatal blow” are silent. Is it that in the Second Archival List of the Pskov Chronicle it is mentioned that the king “stabbed” his son with a staff after a quarrel over Pskov - but this is preceded by a significant phrase: “Some say, supposedly...” However, according to the same chronicle, the death of the prince followed only two months later after a quarrel, and the chronicler in no way connects the one and the other...

The aforementioned Mazurin chronicler is the only Russian source that specifically connects the quarrel and death, but even there, firstly, the phrase “according to rumors” is used, and secondly, the Mazurin chronicler is clearly imbued with anti-Moscow sentiments, which should also be taken into account...

Isaac Massa, an author not inclined to follow cheap sensations and gossip, wrote an interesting phrase: “Ivan killed or lost his son.” Such an evasive turn of phrase indicates that different versions were floating around and the cautious Dutchman was in no hurry to choose one […]

There is no complete clarity even on the question of the number of wives of the prince. According to one version, his pregnant wife, because of whom the fuss allegedly flared up, was his third. According to another, it’s the second (and her pregnancy is not mentioned). Lomonosov names only two of the Tsarevich's wives - and writes that both were tonsured as nuns during the Tsarevich's lifetime. Then where did the third, pregnant Natalya Sheremeteva come from? Complete confusion...

Personally, I am alarmed by another aspect of this mystery. Almost all foreigners (who certainly could not come to an agreement) write about some kind of conflict between father and son. About a serious conflict, and not a quarrel over a half-dressed wife, more suitable for a communal apartment. Almost everyone mentions it: both “dreamers” and more serious people. True, the reasons given are different, but the trend is obvious: some extremely serious conflict occurred between father and son...

I do not draw any versions from this circumstance - solely because it is generally impossible to understand what happened. I am simply alarmed by this turn of events: a serious conflict, followed by the death of the prince. No versions, no hints: I smell something, but I don’t undertake to prove or justify it. It seems very likely that we don’t know everything about that ancient history and will never know the truth.”

So, perhaps, after all, “death comes from illness”?

In fact, already in the 20th century they began to speak definitely about Tsarevich Ivan’s illness - it was poisoning with sublimate (mercuric chloride). The fact is that in April - May 1963, in the necropolis of the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, four tombs were opened: Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, Tsar Feodor Ivanovich and commander Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky. When examining the remains, the version of the poisoning of Ivan the Terrible was verified. As a result, scientists then stated that the arsenic content in all four skeletons was approximately the same and did not exceed the norm.

Based on these results, some historians have tried to argue that there was no poisoning of Ivan the Terrible, but rather the consequences of treating a “shameful disease” (that is, chronic syphilis) with mercury ointments. In a similar way, they “infected” Tsarevich Ivan, completely ignoring the fact that no “shameful pathology” was found in the remains of the Tsar and Tsarevich (although syphilis in an advanced stage necessarily affects the bone structure).

Later the interpretation of these results was changed. According to recent research, mercury is main component most ancient poisons - in the bones of Ivan Vasilyevich exceeded the norm by at least ten times. The arsenic norm for the prince and his father was also exceeded - three and almost two times, respectively.

The conclusion was unequivocal: there was poisoning (both of them) with a “cocktail” of arsenic and mercury.

* * *

On February 26, 1556, Evdokia Ivanovna was born, but this daughter of Ivan the Terrible did not live long: she died in her third year of life.

* * *

The third son in the royal family, Tsarevich Fyodor Ivanovich, was born on May 11, 1557. This fact itself further strengthened the importance of Queen Anastasia in the eyes of the boyars. However, by that time her health had already been severely damaged by frequent childbirth, and the child, according to R. G. Skrynnikov, “turned out to be frail and feeble-minded,” and it was not for nothing that he was nicknamed Blessed.

Most authors believe that Fedor was completely incapable of government activities. In particular, in the essay of the English envoy Giles Fletcher “On the Russian State” (Of the Russe Common Wealth), published in London in 1591, it is said that Fyodor Ivanovich was “short in stature, squat and plump, of a weak physique and prone to dropsy; his nose is like a hawk, his gait is unsteady due to some relaxation in his limbs; he is heavy and inactive, but always smiles, so much so that he almost laughs […] He is simple and weak-minded, but very kind and good in manners, quiet, merciful, has no inclination for war, has little ability for political affairs and is extremely superstitious.”

And here is the description of N.I. Kostomarov: “Theodore Ivanovich was alien to everything, according to his dementia. He got up at four o’clock, his confessor came to him with holy water and with an icon of the saint whose memory was celebrated that day […] At nine o’clock in the morning he went to mass, at eleven o’clock he had dinner, then he slept, then he went to vespers, sometimes before Vespers, to the bathhouse. After Vespers, he spent time until nightfall in amusements: they sang songs to him, told him fairy tales, and jesters amused him with antics. Theodore was very fond of ringing bells and sometimes went to ring the bell tower himself. He often made pious journeys, walked around Moscow monasteries […] But in addition to such pious inclinations, Theodore also showed others that resembled the disposition of his parent. He loved to watch fist fights and battles between people and bears […] Theodore’s dementia did not, however, inspire contempt for him. According to popular belief, the weak-minded were considered sinless and therefore were called “blessed.”

As always, the opposite point of view is expressed by A. A. Bushkov, who writes: “It cannot be ruled out that Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich was far from being as weak-minded as they wrote about under the Romanovs.”

* * *

Biographer of Ivan the Terrible R. G. Skrynnikov states: “Anastasia’s health was shaken, she was overcome by illness. Frequent childbirth exhausted the queen’s body.”

It would seem, and how not to exhaust it - after all, a very young woman had pregnancies on average once every two years. As a consequence, in 1559 she became seriously ill.

But A. A. Bushkov argues differently, claiming that the queen fell ill and died “under extremely mysterious circumstances.” Regarding the fact that the queen’s body was weakened by frequent childbirth, he writes the following: “The historian, undoubtedly, mechanically transferred to the sixteenth century the realities of the twenty-first, when the birth of a second child in a family was already an event. In the sixteenth century, throughout Europe it was somewhat different: women gave birth almost every year (also because infant mortality was high: if you give birth to four, one will survive). So six children in ten years of marriage is, by the standards of the sixteenth century, even below the average...

Peasant women who had 10–15 children did not even think of dying from “weakening of the body,” but the queen, undoubtedly, was in much more favorable conditions compared to them: she did not bother with hard work, and ate and drank incomparably better".

But the fact that by 1559 the relationship between Ivan Vasilyevich and Anastasia Romanovna had noticeably deteriorated is a fact. One of the chronicles, for example, even mentions the beginning of the tsar’s betrayals (“the tsar began to be vehement and adulterous to Queen Anastasia”).

In fact, the relationship between the king and the queen could not be called cloudless, especially shortly before the death of the latter. They lived practically separately, almost without intersecting. And then, already in 1560, there was another serious Moscow fire, and the sick queen was taken to Kolomenskoye near Moscow.

We read about this fire from N.M. Karamzin: “In dry times, when strong wind, Arbat caught fire; clouds of smoke with flaming brands rushed towards the Kremlin. The Emperor took the sick Anastasia to the village of Kolomenskoye; He put out the fire himself, exposing himself to the greatest danger: he stood against the wind, showered with sparks, and with his fearlessness aroused such zeal in noble officials that nobles and boyars threw themselves into the flames, broke buildings, carried water, and climbed on roofs. This fire was renewed several times and was worth the battle: many people lost their lives or were left maimed. The queen became worse from fear and anxiety.”

And then Queen Anastasia died before she even reached the age of thirty. She died quietly, as if embarrassed by the fact that she was attracting too much attention to herself.

This happened on August 7, 1560, at five o'clock in the morning. Moreover, even the most skilled doctors called by Ivan Vasilyevich could not determine the exact cause of her death. Naturally, rumors immediately spread that the queen had been poisoned.

* * *

By the way, this version remained for a long time just an interesting version, and was confirmed only 440 years later. A decisive contribution to the solution of this mystery was made by the study of the remains of Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna, carried out in 2000 on the initiative of T. D. Panova, head of the archaeological department of the State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve "Moscow Kremlin".

Together with specialists from the Bureau of Forensic Medicine of the Moscow City Health Committee, geochemist scientists conducted a spectral analysis of the queen’s well-preserved dark brown braid. The results obtained were stunning.

As is known, mercury (Hg) is a highly toxic cumulative (accumulated) poison, and the most informative material reflecting the concentration of trace elements in the body is hair. The norm for mercury content in human hair is determined by the value of 0.1–0.5 μg/g. The toxic dose for humans is 0.4 mg.

Queen Anastasia had a huge amount of mercury in her hair - 4.8 mg. As we can see, the content of mercury salts in the hair of Queen Anastasia exceeded the toxic dose by 12 times. Typically, scraps of a shroud (0.5 mg) and decay from the bottom of a stone sarcophagus (0.3 mg) were also contaminated with them. This can only mean one thing: there is confirmation of poisoning.

As T.D. Panova says, “Tsarina Anastasia was poisoned with mercury salts, or the so-called “Venetian poison.” Mercury was found in the queen's remains. Other poisons: antimony, arsenic, lead were not found in her remains.”

Venetian poison is what Aristotle called " silver water", the same deadly nectar about which the 19th century poet A. N. Maikov wrote:

And that was the century when Venetian poison
The invisible one, like a plague, crept everywhere:
In a letter, in communion, to brother and to a dish...

The famous poison of Lucretia Borgia, illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI (in the world Rodrigo Borgia), who died in 1519! Legends have been made about him for hundreds of years, and for good reason. Created with the help of chemists devoted to Alexander VI, it exerted its effect only after some time: from a month to several years. With his help, the beautiful Lucrezia got rid of her annoying lovers (and there were dozens of them). But her father and brother used this poison to achieve political and career goals.

In one of the documents, compiled by Ivan the Terrible himself, he assumed that his enemies “had poisoned Queen Anastasia.” And, as it turned out, in this case he was absolutely right.

Modern scientists are convinced that the young woman’s body simply could not accumulate such an amount of mercury even with the daily use of medieval cosmetics, which typically had a high content of toxic metal compounds.

A study of the remains of Queen Anastasia showed that she was no more than 25–26 years old. This means that she was born around 1534, and was married off at the age of thirteen. Of course, six pregnancies for such an age are very difficult, and the queen’s body was clearly exhausted, but the study of her remains clearly showed that she died from poisoning. This is not an assumption, not a legend, but, as they say, a scientifically proven fact.

Nowadays, killers prefer pistols with silencers, and in the Middle Ages it was mercury salts that were the main weapon for eliminating undesirables, and Rus', as we see, was no exception. In 1560, many people were interested in the death of Queen Anastasia, but, unfortunately, we will never know the name of the one who ordered and carried out this heinous crime.

* * *

This may seem strange to some, but Ivan Vasilyevich was very upset about the death of his first wife. Numerous chronicles have preserved a vivid story about this. He walked behind the coffin, supported by his younger brother Yuri, cousin Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky and the young Kazan Tsar Alexander, his pupil, because from grief and tears he could barely stand on his feet, as one of the eyewitnesses wrote, “from great lamentation and pity hearts."

The queen was buried in the Kremlin Ascension Monastery. A lot of people gathered for her funeral, “but there was a lot of crying for her, because she was merciful and kind to everyone.”

As we remember, Jerome Horsey, who lived in Moscow from 1571 to 1591, argued that the queen was not only “merciful and kind to everyone,” but also “influential.”

R. G. Skrynnikov does not agree with this: “Horsei arrived in Russia after the death of the queen and wrote down a review of her from hearsay. Sources have not preserved any indication that Anastasia actively interfered in state affairs.”

Leaving aside all the enthusiastic exaggerations that are clearly visible in Jerome Horsey’s notes in relation to the young queen, we note that with her kind disposition Anastasia, apparently, still knew how to pacify the unbridled temper of her husband in some situations. Of course, she did not have a serious influence on the decisions made by Ivan the Terrible in the field public policy, but still she was an enviable wife, the king was strongly attached to her and all his life later he remembered his first wife with love and regret.

During the funeral, he cried and tore out his hair. At the sight of such sincere grief, many boyars cried, and while the coffin was being lowered into the grave, even the metropolitan burst into tears.

N. M. Karamzin writes: “Never has common grief been portrayed more touchingly and powerfully. Not just the courtyard, but the whole of Moscow buried its first, most amiable queen. When the body was carried to the Ascension Convent, the people did not give way to either the clergy or nobles, crowding in the streets to the coffin. Everyone cried, and the poorest and beggars were the most inconsolable, calling Anastasia by the name of her mother. They wanted to give them the usual alms in such cases: they did not accept, shunning any joy on this day of sadness.”

Ivan Vasilyevich spent a whole week after Anastasia’s funeral alone, not showing himself even to those closest to him. Finally he came out to people, but he was a completely different person. The thirty-year-old king was hunched over, his face was yellow, riddled with deep wrinkles. The sunken eyes moved restlessly and burned with evil lights.

From that moment on, a new streak in life began for Ivan Vasilyevich, which finally secured for him the sad glory of “Grozny”. A new stage has begun for all of Rus'. As N.M. Karamzin writes, people “still did not know what Anastasia took with her to the grave! Here is the end of the happy days of John and Russia: for he lost not only his wife, but also his virtue.”

* * *

The death of Queen Anastasia, which occurred under circumstances that suggested poisoning, became the cause of a sharp psychological crisis for Ivan the Terrible.

The historian M.I. Zarezin expresses the following opinion on this matter: “Before the body of Queen Anastasia was buried, Ivan plunged into the dirtiest revelry - he became “very adulterous.” The chronicles also testify that it was after the death of the queen that Ivan changed his “much-wise mind” to a “strong temperament.” In our opinion, the secret of Ivan’s pliability to the charms of his wife is explained by Ivan’s penchant for acting and hypocrisy. Anastasia wanted to see her husband as God-fearing and humble, and he willingly played this role in front of her and, perhaps, even liked himself in this noble image. As often happens, the mask begins to dictate the behavior of its owner.

If Sylvester's influence is generated by sincere superstitious fear, then Anastasia's influence is generated by voluntary hypocrisy. To get rid of the priestly power, Ivan had to adjust his attitude 180 degrees: it was not Ivan’s resistance to the orders of his guardians that caused the misfortunes that befell him, but, on the contrary, his submission to their will. To remove the mask of a virtuous Christian, Ivan needed only a reason - the absence of an audience who wanted to see this image and was ready to appreciate the transformation. Therefore, after Anastasia’s death, Ivan freely gives free rein to his lusts. He hasn’t changed at all: he just took off his disguise, revealing his own face.”

And this king’s own face was truly terrible. Suspecting those around him of Anastasia's murder, he began the first overt campaign of terror against the boyars and close advisers (before 1560, the tsar's relations with high-ranking courtiers were already quite tense, but there was no talk of mass terror yet).

The Tsar himself wrote in a message to Prince Andrei Kurbsky: “Why did you separate me from my wife?”

Personally, the tsar blamed his advisers Sylvester and Alexei Fedorovich Adashev for the death of his wife, caused, in his opinion, by “witchcraft.”

In M.P. Pogodin we read: “Suddenly Anastasia dies. John cries, but after a week he feasts, and goes to write! Sylvester and Adashev are accused of Anastasia's death and, absent, are condemned by their enemies, who were still afraid that they would not return their influence; The enemies hastened to take advantage of the opportunity that had opened for their final overthrow. A sense of self-preservation prompted them to do anything other than hatred. The entire affected pariah is suspected along with their superiors and awaits a similar fate. Others flee: flight serves as a justification for severity and gives rise to accusations against others.

John begins to see traitors everywhere, goes berserk, indulges in debauchery and becomes a tyrant, the likes of which are few in history.”

Biographer of Ivan the Terrible V.B. Kobrin writes: “Ivan the Terrible connects his break with his advisers with the death of his first wife, Tsarina Anastasia, directly accusing yesterday’s temporary workers of murder.”

As usual, there was no direct evidence, except for the testimony of a certain Polish woman, Magdalena, who lived in Adashev’s house, and even that was obtained under torture. Nevertheless…

However, this story is worthy of dwelling on it in more detail.

* * *

To begin with, we note that around 1546, a priest named Sylvester appeared in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. And very soon this man became the king’s close confidant, his confessor and one of his main advisers.

From R. G. Skrynnikov we read: “Sylvester was born in Novgorod into the family of a poor priest and chose a spiritual career. From Novgorod, Sylvester moved to the capital and received a place in the Kremlin Annunciation Cathedral. The Blagoveshchensk priest stood out for his selflessness. He never knew how to arrange his affairs. After the fire, Sylvester had the opportunity to receive the official post of royal confessor, but he did not take advantage of the opportunity. Having started his career as a priest of the Annunciation Cathedral, he ended his life in the same rank. He belonged to the educated circles of the clergy and had a good library for his time. Ivan owed a lot to Sylvester for his successes in education.

Recalling his relationship with Sylvester, the king wrote many years later that, following the biblical commandment, he submitted to the good mentor without any reasoning. Sylvester was a strict and demanding teacher."

V. N. Balyazin writes: “Unsteady in mind, without any definite beliefs and views, a visionary and a dreamer, shaken to the core by a number of unfortunate events, daring and bloodthirsty in strength, cowardly and cowardly in solitude, superstitious and mystic, John is entirely is given into the hands of a person with an iron will, a strong mind, strict and definite convictions and an unyielding character. Everything contributed to Sylvester's dominance."

Sylvester's rapprochement with the king dates back to 1547. But very soon Ivan Vasilyevich began to feel burdened by guardianship. The seventeen-year-old sovereign then complained: “Under Sylvester, I was not given free rein in anything: how to put on shoes, how to sleep - everything was at the request of the mentors, but I was like a baby.”

And Sylvester himself began to lean towards Ivan Vasilyevich’s cousin, Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky, and then completely joined the boyar group opposed to the tsar and his relatives, the Zakharyins.

As we have already said, Ivan Vasilyevich singled out Alexei Fedorovich Adashev, and he singled him out so much that the importance of Sylvester and Adashev at court created enemies for them, of whom the main ones were the Zakharyins, relatives of Queen Anastasia. This enmity reached its climax in 1553, when Ivan Vasilyevich became dangerously ill.

Biographer of Ivan the Terrible B.N. Florya writes about this: “The Tsar fell ill on March 1, 1553. The illness was very serious: the king, as the chronicle puts it, “knew few people,” that is, he was often unconscious. It was possible that he would die soon.”

In such circumstances, it was decided to draw up a will, in which the tsar demanded that his cousin, Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky, and the boyars swear allegiance to his son, the baby Dmitry, who was born only in October 1552.

But twenty-year-old Vladimir Andreevich refused to swear allegiance to the “tsar in swaddling clothes” and began talking about his own rights to the throne after the death of the tsar.

Sylvester openly leaned towards Prince Vladimir Andreevich. Alexey Adashev, however, unquestioningly swore allegiance to the young Dmitry, but his father, the okolnichy Fyodor Grigorievich Adashev, directly announced to the sick king that he did not want to obey the Zakharyins, who, without any doubt, would run the show due to the heir’s youth.

A. A. Bushkov, characterizing their behavior, writes that “Sylvester and Adashev were openly playing too much by that time,” “they turned their noses up too much and imagined too much about themselves.”

The Zakharins did not remain in debt. Biographer of Ivan the Terrible V.B. Kobrin says about this: “Even during Anastasia’s life, her brothers “slandered” Sylvester and Adashev and “whispered” denunciations and accusations against them.”

Unfortunately for Sylvester and Adashev, Ivan Vasilyevich recovered and began to look at his former friends with different eyes. Likewise, Sylvester’s supporters have now lost the favor of Queen Anastasia, to whom it became obvious that they did not want to see her son on the throne.

However, at first the king did not show any hostile feelings towards them, which is usually associated with the joy of recovery or with the fear of abruptly breaking off old relationships. In the same 1553, he even granted Fyodor Adashev the boyar’s hat, but three years later he suddenly took it and died.

And on June 4, 1553, due to an absurd accident, Dmitry’s heir passed away. As we have already told, he strangely drowned during his parents’ trip on a pilgrimage to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

After this, the king became even more burdened by his former advisers. There were many reasons for this. V. B. Kobrin points to some of them: “The contention over Anastasia, apparently, was only the last straw in the discord between the tsar and the advisers. It was precisely the cooling in relations, disappointment in Sylvester, Adashev and other figures in the government circle that could make Ivan IV believe the absurd accusations. Psychological incompatibility arose between them and the king. Both Adashev and Sylvester and their associates were very powerful people with a strong will. But Tsar Ivan was also extremely power-hungry.”

In addition, Ivan Vasilyevich himself turned out to be more far-sighted than all his advisers in state affairs: for example, he started the Livonian War in spite of Sylvester and Adashev, who called for focusing on the conquest of the Crimean Khanate in order to put an end to this “robber infidel nest.”

After Anastasia’s death, her relatives accused Sylvester and Adashev of having “bewitched” the queen. - N.S.].

In V.B. Kobrin we read: “On what could the accusations of bewitching or poisoning Anastasia be based? Note that Tsar Ivan accused Sylvester and Adashev not only of Anastasia’s death, but also of neglecting her... Minor displeasures and court quarrels between the Zakharyins and temporary workers after the death of the queen must have acquired an ominous shade in the eyes of the tsar. After all, death loved one always makes you remember your guilt before him and the guilt of those around you. As for Tsar Ivan, he always especially readily recalled the faults of others. What seemed normal when it came to communicating with a living person was perceived completely differently when a loved one was no longer alive. The impulsive nature of Tsar Ivan could exaggerate these events.”

Be that as it may, after the death of Queen Anastasia, Sylvester was removed from the court, became a monk and lived in northern monasteries. According to some sources, he was exiled to the Solovetsky Monastery, according to others, he voluntarily took monastic vows at the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Be that as it may, in 1577, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, in a letter to the Tsar, called Sylvester dead.

As for Alexei Fedorovich Adashev, he was sent into exile in Livonia, where he became the third commander of a large regiment led by Prince Ivan Fedorovich Mstislavsky and boyar Morozov. Then the tsar’s dislike for Adashev intensified even more, and he ordered him to be transferred to Dorpat (Yuryev, now the Estonian city of Tartu), and there to be placed in custody. The arrested Alexey Fedorovich fell ill with a fever and died two months later. It is believed that natural death saved him from the royal massacre, since in the coming years all his relatives were executed.

In particular, in 1563, his brother, the okolnichy Daniil Fedorovich Adashev, a participant in many successful campaigns of the Russian troops, passed away. He was executed along with his twelve-year-old son.

This is how the Adashev dynasty ended.

* * *

As for the relatives of the late Queen Anastasia, her sister Anna married Prince Vasily Andreevich Sitsky, who died in 1578 in Livonia, in a battle near the walls of Wenden.

But her most famous brother Nikita Romanovich died in 1586, and it was he who became the founder of the Romanov dynasty (the grandfather of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich).

In 1563, he was made a boyar, actively participated in government, lived in his own luxurious chambers on Varvarka, and then suddenly took monasticism with the name Nifont. He is buried in the family crypt of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Novospassky Monastery.

Nikita Romanovich was married twice: to Varvara Khovrina from the Khovrin-Golovin family and to Princess Evdokia Gorbata-Shuiskaya, who belonged to the descendants of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Rurikovichs. From these two marriages he had thirteen children, including his son Fyodor - he was also Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Filaret from 1619, the first of the Romanov family to bear this particular surname.

In 1613, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, born in 1596 (great-nephew of Queen Anastasia, son of Fyodor Nikitich Romanov and noblewoman Ksenia Ivanovna Shestova), was elected to the kingdom, and his offspring (traditionally called the “house of Romanov”) ruled Russia until 1917 .

Thus, it was thanks to the marriage of Anastasia Romanovna that the rise of the Romanov family took place, which, after the suppression of the Moscow Rurikovich line, received grounds to lay claim to the royal throne.

Notes:

Equerry - a court rank in the Russian state, the head of the Stable Prikaz, which was in charge of the royal stables, palace carriages, stable settlements, villages and lands, collection of duties from Moscow trading baths and from the purchase and sale of horses at horse riding areas.

According to tradition, the girl must be led down the aisle by her father to hand her over to the groom. If there was no father (as in the case of Anastasia), then his role at the wedding was played by the “planted” father, and it could be anyone.

The friend is one of the main participants in the ancient wedding ceremony and the stewards of the wedding.

According to tradition, relatives gathered for the wedding feast, and Alexei Adashev’s wife Anastasia came from a family of nobles, the Satins, who, in turn, were related to one of the queen’s brothers.

Mazurin chronicler. Chronicle of 1619–1691. Chronicle legend of Peter Zolotarev.

Chapter first. Anastasia Zakharyina

The Guardian Council ruled the country for less than a year, after which its power began to weaken. In August 1534, a number of changes took place in the ruling circles.

On August 5, Prince Mikhail Lvovich Glinsky was arrested, and he very soon died in prison. In the same month, another member of the guardianship council, Mikhail Vorontsov, was also arrested.

Analyzing the events of August 1534, the historian S. M. Solovyov concludes that “all this was a consequence of the general indignation of the nobles against Elena and her favorite Obolensky.”

And on April 4, 1538, Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya herself, who was only thirty years old, suddenly died.

God bless! I finally cleaned up the damned German woman...

She did not respect the Old Russian covenants; she introduced German customs. Isn't it a sin? - they burned the deceased boyars.

Sin, great sin. And she herself, the disgrace, committed adultery with Prince Ivan Ovchina-Obolensky...

Young Ivan Vasilyevich heard such speeches and, angrily clenching his fists, hissed under his breath:

Oooh, mangy dogs... Wait, when I go into summer, I’ll cut off everyone’s heads...

In August 1545, with the onset of his fifteenth birthday, Ivan Vasilyevich began to be considered an adult. In the 16th century, it was at this age that children of the nobility entered military service, and the children of the nobility received lower court positions. Ivan Vasilyevich was, of course, a person of a special kind and could already become the full-fledged ruler of a vast and powerful state, but he turned out to be ill-prepared to perform this function, and he was surrounded by rather random people.

Most likely, it is believed that Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow and All Rus', who was elevated to the metropolitan throne in 1542, played a major role in this.

Be that as it may, whether on his own or on the initiative of the people who ruled in his name, Ivan Vasilyevich marked his coming of age by accepting the title of Tsar Ivan IV.

The royal title was of great importance. He, in particular, allowed Ivan Vasilyevich to take a completely different position in diplomatic relations with Western Europe, because the grand ducal title was translated simply as “prince” or even “grand duke”, while the title “tsar” in the European hierarchy stood on a par with the title “emperor” .

After the crowning ceremony, Ivan Vasilyevich’s relatives achieved great privileges for themselves. In particular, the Tsar's grandmother Anna Yakshich (in her marriage, Glinskaya was the wife of Prince Vasily Lvovich Glinsky and the mother of Elena Glinskaya) and her children received extensive land holdings as an appanage principality. Prince Mikhail was declared the royal groom, and his brother Prince Yuri became a boyar.

The fact is that in June 1547 Moscow was devastated by a terrible fire. Then about two thousand people and almost all the property of Muscovites died in the flames. The enemies of the Glinskys hastened to take advantage of this disaster in order to get rid of them. Ivan Vasilyevich was informed that Moscow burned down not just like that, but because of malicious intent. The king ordered an investigation. To do this, the Shuiskys gathered the mob into the Kremlin and began to ask: who set Moscow on fire?

After his crowning, Ivan Vasilyevich decided to get married.

I wish to find a bride in Rus',” said sixteen-year-old Ivan Vasilyevich.

Metropolitan Macarius answered with emotion:

God Himself inspired in you the intention so desired for your subjects! I bless it in the name of the Heavenly Father.

So, Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva was chosen.

They clarify that one of the reasons for Anastasia’s election “could have been her nobility and closeness to the Grand Duke’s court.”

But Anastasia’s uncle, Mikhail Yuryevich Zakharyin, was, as they would say now, much cooler. He served as an adviser to the Grand Duke and, as L. E. Morozova and B. N. Morozov note, was nicknamed “the eye of Vasily III.” As we have already said, he even included him in the guardianship council for his little son Ivan, so the future Ivan the Terrible was familiar with the family of the future bride from childhood.

I would like to understand the origins of this royal family in more detail.

The first reliable ancestor of the Romanov family is Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla, a boyar of the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita, who ruled in 1325–1340.

Fyodor Andreevich Koshka died in 1407, his son Ivan Fedorovich Koshkin - in 1427, and his grandson Zakhary Ivanovich Koshkin - in 1461.

Yuri Zakharyevich Zakharyin-Koshkin, a boyar since 1483, had six children, one of whom was Roman Yuryevich, Anastasia's father.

Information about the life of Roman Yuryevich is very scarce. It is only known that he was married twice. From these marriages he had children Danila, Nikita, Anna and Anastasia.

Anastasia was the youngest of Roman Yuryevich’s two daughters from his marriage to Princess Ulyana Fedorovna Litvinova-Mosalskaya.

Fairy tales, of course. In this case, the royal choice could have been influenced solely by the girl’s beauty, and nothing more: forgive the vulgarity, but the young man did not want to go to bed with the “high reputation” of the Yuryevs-Zakharyins.”

After the death of her father, Anastasia lived with her mother, Princess Ulyana Fedorovna.

The future queen was famous for her beauty from a young age. Being very short, she had regular facial features, long thick dark brown hair and, presumably, dark eyes.

Yuri, Ivan Vasilyevich’s brother, was appointed as the imprisoned father. The groom's boyfriends were Dmitry Fedorovich Belsky and Anastasia's cousin Ivan Mikhailovich, Anastasia's boyfriends were the boyars Ivan Ivanovich Pronsky-Turuntai and Mikhail Yakovlevich Morozov.

The sacrament was performed by Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow and All Rus'. At the same time, he said: “Today, by the sacrament of the church, you are united forever, and together you worship the Most High and live in virtue, and your virtue is truth and mercy. Sovereign, love and honor your wife, and you, Christ-loving queen, obey him. Just as the holy cross is the head of the church, so the husband is the head of the wife.”

It would seem, live and be happy. However, the king's marriage to Nerovna was very poorly received by the boyars. In particular, Prince Semyon Lobanov-Rostovsky even accused Ivan Vasilyevich of the fact that “the sovereign does not favor them all, dishonors the great families, but brings the young ones closer to himself.” He said so: “You, sir, are crowding us with them, and now even more so - you took your boyar’s daughter as your wife... Your slave... And how can we serve her now?”

Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky was not the only one who called Anastasia a “slave.” For the direct descendants of Prince Rurik, the founder of statehood in Rus', she, of course, was artistic, and such speeches were constantly heard in the preparation for the royal wedding.

A. A. Bushkov describes it as follows: “That’s where it began... The “old” boyars not only didn’t love Anastasia, they literally hated her. The point of view of the noble gentlemen was once expressed by the boyar Lobanov-Rostovsky, who became so angry that he secretly met with the Lithuanian ambassador and began to cry to him […] The ambassador, “socially close” because he belonged to an ancient family, listened with sincere sympathy [... ] The situation was extremely tense.”

Nevertheless, the wedding itself was celebrated with great pomp. And everyone waited with curiosity to see how the king would behave next. A week passed, then another, and the boyars stopped recognizing Ivan Vasilyevich. The cruel fun stopped, the “shameful” songs were not heard, the girls who filled the palace’s tower disappeared. The king was friendly and generously helped everyone in need. He even released many prisoners from the dungeons.

Everyone attributed this amazing change to the influence of his young wife. In particular, L. E. Morozova and B. N. Morozov write: “From the first weeks of meeting Anastasia, Ivan never ceased to admire her. If under the boyars the tsar allowed himself to be harsh and rude, often becoming furious, then under a meek and gentle wife he calmed down and became a loving and caring husband. His life changed. Ivan stopped sprees and drinking bouts with young nobles, began to think more about state affairs and gradually surrounded himself with smart and educated people, some of whom were related to the queen.”

M.P. Pogodin places the emphasis somewhat differently: “Ioannov’s kind, meek wife, Anastasia Romanova, and his comrade, his peer, Adashev, began to act together with Sylvester - and everything at court and in the state changed.”

The aforementioned Adashev and Sylvester will be discussed below, but for now we note that Anastasia Romanovna tried with all her might to exert a beneficial influence on the Tsar. However, if she succeeded in this, then, as the future showed, it was only because Ivan Vasilyevich, most likely, simply liked the sharp contrast between his former stormy life and quiet family happiness.

A. A. Bushkov is even more categorical on this issue: “We know very little about Queen Anastasia, but, given historical realities, we can safely assume that she was nothing more than, speaking in a modern manner, a housewife, whose functions and rights were not rise above cutlets and darning socks. However, she simply had to become the “angel” who pacified the anger of Ivan the Terrible under the pen of Romanov’s historiographers - since it was precisely this image of her that worked to strengthen the dynasty. Relatives - the descendants of the tsar’s favorite wife, the only one of all his many wives who influenced state affairs - this, you see, is not a sickly image.”

Unfortunately, this was only a temporary flash of that spark of humanity that lay hidden in Ivan the Terrible.

In the first days of March, a sharp change suddenly occurred in the sovereign, and, moreover, without any apparent reason. One morning he called one of the boyars on duty to his bedchamber. Anastasia meekly remarked to him that it was inappropriate to invite a man to the bedchamber when she, the queen, was still lying in bed.

Ivan Vasilyevich laughed cynically and shouted so that everyone could hear:

What kind of queen are you?! As you were Nastya Zakharyina, so you remain. If I want, I’ll lock you up in a monastery today, and I’ll get married again.

Anastasia, who did not expect anything like this from her husband, just clasped her hands and burst into tears.

Remember, sir,” she said, rubbing away her tears, “how you and I have lived until now.” Everything was fine with us, quiet and clear.

“I’m already tired of this silence,” Ivan Vasilyevich answered sharply, getting out of bed. - Every day it’s the same thing. Tired of it. I will now live as I lived before.

Silently getting dressed, he left the bedchamber, not paying attention to Anastasia’s gentle entreaties.

N. M. Karamzin notes on this occasion: “Neither Ioannov’s piety nor sincere love for his virtuous wife could tame his ardent, restless soul, swift in the movements of anger, accustomed to noisy idleness, to rude, indecent amusements.”

And then something completely terrible happened.

Ivan Vasilyevich’s behavior became more and more unbearable day by day: the slightest reason was enough to enrage the Tsar; in all his actions he was guided only by whims. One day Anastasia, having caught good mood sovereign spouse, asked him to assign one of his relatives to court service. This generally innocent request suddenly seemed suspicious to the king. He rushed at Anastasia with his fists, hit her several times and then left, meaningfully saying: “Okay, I’ll do it your way.”

The next day, the queen’s relative was brought to the palace and dressed as a jester.

You’re mocking, sir,” was all he had time to say.

But then the unsuspecting queen appeared. The jester standing in the corner caught her eye, but his face could not be seen, and therefore she calmly sat down in her place.

Look, look,” Ivan Vasilyevich addressed her cheerfully. “Only yesterday you asked me to assign your relative to the palace, and today he is already here.”

Anastasia looked around in amazement.

Only now did the queen recognize the jester as her relative.

Thank the queen for her mercy,” the king shouted to him. - She begged me.

Zakharyin raised his eyes, in which reproach mixed with hatred shone. He took a few steps forward, stopped and spoke:

Thank you, Mother Queen! You favored me! She elevated the entire Zakharyin family! With that I hit you with my forehead. It’s just in vain that you made me look like a buffoon, because you can make jokes yourself. It would be more appropriate for you to be a cracker.

The Tsar burst out laughing, and the confused Anastasia almost fainted.

And the sovereign father,” Zakharyin continued meanwhile, “loves to joke.” And a clownish caftan would suit him...

From such words, Ivan Vasilyevich jumped up as if stung, and his face convulsed. All the other participants in the meal jumped up indignantly.

Fedka! Basmanov! - the king wheezed. - Now, after the meal, cook the bear!

Basmanov whistled to his assistants, Zakharyin was grabbed and taken away.

“And to you, my soul,” the king turned to Anastasia, “I promised to show you the game a long time ago.” Today you will see her.

No, I won’t see it,” Anastasia stamped her foot. “You can kill me, but making me look at such atrocities is not in your power.”

With these words, Anastasia stood up and, looking proudly at the king, left. Ivan Vasilyevich was stunned. It seemed that it was not Anastasia, that someone had replaced his meek, patient wife. There was dead silence in the capital chamber. No one dared to move, and everyone expected that the king would severely punish the obstinate queen that very second. However, Ivan, although he was the Terrible, suddenly, completely unexpectedly, laughed and exclaimed: “Well, we’ll manage without her!”

The storm passed for the queen, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the cheerful meal went on as usual. And two hours later, unfortunate Zakharyin was pushed out onto the royal platform, fenced with a high palisade. Before he could get to his feet, the grate rose and a black shadow moved towards him. Brown bear! Huge! With a deep roar, the beast easily ripped up the ground with its paw and opened its mouth wide, showing terrible teeth. The unarmed man smelled of hot, stinking breath. He backed away...

The bear playfully crushed the man under him, and he felt that death was inevitable. The cold covered him from the back of his head to his feet, and his mind was captured by only one thought - how to get out from under the beast. “No, you can’t get out from under this, it’s too healthy. This is the end,” flashed through my head.

And yet the man exerted all his strength, sharply, until his joints cracked, jerked to the side and slipped out from under the shaggy carcass, rolling to the side. But the bear did not give him a break. Enraged, the beast rose to its hind legs and attacked again. On hind legs he seemed like a giant next to the man, but he did not think of giving up. In an unequal struggle for his life, he howled in pain and rage, tried to throw off the terrible beast, shook his head from side to side, made convulsive movements of his body... But everything was useless: the more energetically he tried to get rid of the bear, the tighter it clenched its jaws.

A minute later, what until recently had been a man was lying in a pool of blood with an unnaturally twisted broken leg and a deep laceration on his side.

Ivan the Terrible, as usual sitting on the Red Porch, burst into laughter and shouted: “My new jester is good! It made me laugh, it made me laugh so much!”

It was April 11, 1547, and the next day a terrible fire broke out in Moscow, which lasted about three months and turned two-thirds of Moscow into charred ruins.

Since childhood, Ivan Vasilyevich was imbued with distrust of the nobility around him. And even when he grew up, this mistrust continued to break out from time to time.

And he singled out a few, in particular Alexei Fedorovich Adashev, who was older than him and had time to see the world.

This Adashev was the son of a serviceman of insignificant origin, Fyodor Grigorievich Adashev. For the first time his name is mentioned in connection with the royal wedding, where he was a lieutenant, that is, he made the sovereign’s wedding bed and accompanied the newlywed to the bathhouse.

Then his closest people washed in the bathhouse with Ivan Vasilyevich - Prince Yuri Vasilyevich Glinsky, Prince Ivan Fedorovich Mstislavsky, Anastasia's brother Nikita Romanovich, and with them Alexey Adashev.

In the internal affairs of the state, Adashev’s activities can be characterized by the words of Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbsky: “He was extremely useful to the common thing.”

The Zakharyins headed the Bolshoi and Tver Palaces, and Fyodor Adashev headed the Uglich Palace, which was a very high appointment.

No matter how cool the character of Ivan Vasilyevich was, no matter how often his mood changed, according to the chroniclers, “Anastasia instructed and led him to all sorts of virtues.”

From his youth, the tsar was famous for his unbridledness, but still sometimes listened to Anastasia Romanovna. In fact, she was probably the only one he listened to.

Jerome Horsey writes about her this way: “This queen was so wise, virtuous, pious and influential that she was revered and loved by all her subordinates.”

At the same time, as this Englishman notes, Ivan Vasilyevich “was young and hot-tempered, but she controlled him with amazing meekness and intelligence.”

According to N.M. Karamzin, with Anastasia, Ivan Vasilyevich “enjoyed complete family happiness, based on love for his tender and virtuous wife.”

In his first marriage, Ivan Vasilyevich had six children.

The eldest were girls: Anna was born on August 10, 1549, and Maria on March 17, 1551. Both of them died without living even a year.

Dmitry Ivanovich, the first Russian prince, was born in October 1552.

The nearby Duma, consisting of the most trusted persons, immediately took an oath in the name of the heir. The general oath of all members of the Duma was scheduled for March 12, 1553.

And then this is what happened: Tsarevich Dmitry died six months later, on June 4, 1553, believed to be due to an absurd accident. He drowned during his parents' trip on a pilgrimage to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, located on the shores of Lake Siverskoye (within the modern city of Kirillov, Vologda Region).

As we can see, the author directly points to Tsarina Anastasia’s brother Danila and her cousin Vasily Mikhailovich, the son of Mikhail Yuryevich Zakharyin - the same one who was an adviser to Vasily III and was on the guardianship council under the minor Ivan Vasilyevich.

By the way, one of the chronicles claims that the death of the prince was predicted to Ivan Vasilyevich by Maxim the Greek, who came to Moscow from Greece at the invitation of Vasily III to translate ancient church books, whom the king had recently visited at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. According to the testimony of Prince Andrei Kurbsky, this same Maxim the Greek, dissuading the Tsar from going on a pilgrimage to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, “did not advise him to go on such a long journey with his wife and newborn child.”

Why didn't you advise? There is no clear answer to this question either.

Be that as it may, the first Russian prince was buried in the Moscow Archangel Cathedral, in the same grave with his grandfather Vasily III.

The fate of this son of Ivan the Terrible ultimately also turned out tragic.

The third wife was Elena Sheremeteva, the daughter of Ivan Vasilyevich Sheremetev, one of the few experienced governors who survived the oprichnina years.

The wedding took place in 1581.

What kind of action was this?

According to another version, the cause of the fatal collision was not his daughter-in-law’s offensive appearance to Ivan the Terrible, but his sexual harassment of her.

This is how N.M. Karamzin describes these events: “This unfortunate man fell, bleeding profusely. Here Ioannov’s rage disappeared. Turning pale with horror, in awe, in a frenzy, he exclaimed: “I killed my son!” - and rushed to hug and kiss him; kept blood from a deep ulcer; cried, sobbed, called doctors; I prayed to God for mercy, my son for forgiveness. But the heavenly judgment was accomplished!.. The Tsarevich kissed his father’s hands, tenderly expressing love and compassion to him; urged him not to give in to despair; said that he was dying as a faithful son and subject..."

Ivan the Terrible followed the body and even walked on foot when approaching Moscow.

And indeed it is. In various chronicles it is said that Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich “passed away”, that “the Tsarevich passed away”, etc. But in all these chronicles there is no hint of murder.

As we see, the quarrel between the king and his son and the death of the prince are separated in time.

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ZAKHARIINA-YURIEVA (ZAKHARIINA-KOSHKINA) ANASTASIA ROMANOVNA - the first Russian Tsar-ri-tsa, the first wife of Ivan IV Va-sil-e-vi-cha Groz-no-go.

From the family of Za-khar-i-nyh-Kosh-ki-nyh. I was first mentioned in 1542-1543 by my spiritual aunt on my father’s side, Princess A.Yu. Ro-mo-da-nov-skoy. After the death of his father, R.Yu. For-khar-i-na-Yur-e-va, in February 1543, mother Ul-ya-noi was resurrected.

According to the evidence “Le-to-write-tsa on-cha-la tsar-st-va...”, in what-what-st-ve-we-were-you -bra-na sa-mim tsa-rem. They were crowned by the Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Ma-kariy in the Uspensky Council of the Moscow Kremlin. Their children: An-na Iva-nov-na (August 10, 1549 - July 20, 1550), Ma-ria Iva-nov-na (March 17, 1551 - 1551), Dmitry Iva-no-vich (October 1552 - June 6, 1553), Ivan Iva-no-vich, Ev-do-kiya Iva-nov-na (February 28, 1556 - June 1558), Fedor Iva-no-vich. More than once, but so-ver-sha-la, vo-lom-no-thing-st-va, including on foot (in the Trinity-Ser-giev Monastery in September 1548), and special prayers (for example, together with my husband at the tomb of St. Nik-ki-you in the Nikitsky monastery of Per-re-yas-lav-la-le - in 1553, when returning from a trip to the northern monasteries, during which her son Dmitry died).

Co-pro-vo-zh-da-la husband in “walking through the mo-na-sta-ryam”: in the Trinity-Ser-Gi-ev Monastery (February 1547, June 1548; December 1552 - for the baptism of Dmitry), monastery of the Center and Se-ve-ra of the country (May - June 1553), again in Troitse-Ser-gi-ev monastery and in the pen-re-yas-lava Nikitsky monastery (September 1556), etc. After the discovery of the monastery, it was not uncommon to -va-la for the king in the districts of near and distant royal residences, palace villages, hunting grounds (1548, 1556), on trips to military affairs (summer - autumn 1559 to Mo-zhaisk). Study-st-vo-va-la in the court-but-church ce-re-mo-ni-al-nyh “meetings” and “launching” miracles - icons (St. Nicholas Ve-li-ko-rets-ko in August 1556, God Ma-te-ri “Odi-git-riya” and other images from Nar-va in August 1558).

By the ini-tia-ti-ve of the king and his encirclement by-ve-de-nie of the ven-tse-nos-noy pair in step-pen-but at-re-re- that-lo public-personal, these-ket-no-nor-ma-tiv-ny character with the use of new forms of society and former -their traditions. At the beginning of the Kazan-year of 1552, the official Ivan IV of Zakharyina -Yuryeva, addressed to her with a speech, crying to the Tsar-rya and another speech from the Tsar to Mi-tro-po-li-tu with a request-fight- I don't really care about his whole family. How Tsar Zakharyin-Yuryeva became a member of the Go-su-da-re-va court, carried out her court service with her, including persons with thoughts and thoughts. Under her supervision and management, a number of workshops and productions were run in the palace management system -st-va.

The marriage of the Tsar with Zakharyina-Yuryeva led to the career growth of her close relatives (the clan of her relatives and cousins , people close to them were especially influential in the years 1548-1554, and then after the death of Zakharyina-Yuryeva), but she herself -meth-no-ly-tic role-whether it’s not a game. During the March crisis of 1553 (during the days of the Tsar’s heavy pain, part of the ruling elite to give to the old prince Vla-di-mi-ru An-d-ree-vi-chu, and not to the young-den-tsu tsar-re-vi-chu Dmitry Iva-no -vi-chu) Zakharyin-Yuryev by the jury of Prince Vla-di-mir An-d-ree-vi-cha po-lu-cha-la some-to-ry right ope-kun-shi. These norms and possible government pre-ro-ga-ti-you in the event of the death of Ivan IV provide detailed work -ku in the May-kre-sto-tse-lo-val-noy for-pi-si of Prince Vla-di-mi-ra An-d-ree-vi-cha, established by re- she-nuyu Ivan IV in connection with the death of Tsar-re-vi-cha Dmitry Iva-no-vi-cha and the birth of Tsar-re-vi-cha Iva -na Iva-no-vi-cha. The old prince had to talk with the main guardian, that is, Zakharyina-Yuryeva, with almost every step he took and with the mother -we think we can't rely on his mother - Princess Ev-fro-si-niy An-d-re-ev-nu, under the influence of which he likes- dil-xia.

The last 1.5-2 years of Zakharyin-Yuryev’s life were hard. Ivan IV after the break-up with A.F. Ada-she-vym and Sil-ve-st-rom blamed them for the fact that they “un-visually raised a lot against our tsa-ri-tsu.” According to rumors, she died from poisoning (the study of her remains sooner confirms them, not -is it op-ro-ver-ga-et: in the bones there is an anomalous amount of mercury in the bones -nyh connections). I was well-natured in the Voz-sensky convent of the Moscow Kremlin. In 1929, the sar-ko-fag with the great-grandmother of Zakharyina-Yuryeva was transferred to the sub-cell of Ar-khan-gel-sko-go-bo-ra.

The death of the queen, who was considered poisoned, had a serious impact on John's state of mind and was one of the circumstances that exacerbated his struggle with the boyars.

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Anastasia came from the Zakharyin-Yuryev family, later called the Romanovs. Her father, Roman Yuryevich Koshkin-Zakharyev-Yuryev, was a guard under Vasily III, who did not particularly distinguish himself due to his early death, and her uncle served as a guardian to the young Ivan IV.
Her birthday appears to have been October 2; her patron saint could possibly have been Saint Ustina (in whose honor one of the churches of St. Basil's Cathedral is dedicated).
Thanks to Anastasia’s marriage, the Romanov family rose to prominence, and after the suppression of the Moscow Rurik line in 1598, a close relationship with the last king Fedor gave the Romanovs grounds to claim the throne. Mikhail Fedorovich, the first tsar from the house of Romanov, elected in 1613, is the great-nephew of Anastasia Romanovna, the grandson of her brother Nikita.

Wedding

She was the youngest of two daughters. After her father's death in 1543, she lived with her mother. The future queen Anastasia was famous for her beauty. Very short in stature, she had regular facial features, long thick dark hair and, presumably, dark eyes.

It is curious that the brother of the late Roman, Zakharyin-Yuryev, Mikhail Yuryevich, who died in 1538, was one of the guardians of the young Ivan the Terrible, which may have given the “competitor” some advantages.

But it was not the nobility, but the personal merits of the bride that justified this choice, and contemporaries, depicting her properties, attributed to her all the feminine virtues for which they only found a name in the Russian language: chastity, humility, piety, sensitivity, kindness, combined with a thorough mind; they don’t talk about beauty: for it was already considered a necessary accessory for the happy Tsar’s bride

They mention that in this way the prophecy of St. Gennady of Lyubimsky and Kostroma, given to the widow-boyar Juliana, was fulfilled: “...to be her daughter’s queen in Moscow”. (Later, St. Gennady became the godfather of Anastasia’s daughter, Anna).

“The box is painted with yellow paints, and there are black stripes on it, and it is bound on the sides. And in that box there are 3 screenshots and on the top of the burial there are flat gold caps, crosses, a sleeve, 2 pearl feathers with stones and large pearls, pink earrings, samples of flowers with pink stones, gold and pearl belts, pearls that are from home, gold samples, gold chains and other things, I can’t remember, because the lists of them are there in the box. In the same box there is a crown with various stones and pearls. Hairline with rounded pearls and carved stone...”

Marrying an unloved woman was poorly received by the boyars. For example, Prince Semyon Lobanov-Rostovsky accused Ivan Vasilyevich of the fact that “the sovereign does not favor them all, he dishonors great families, but brings young people closer to himself, and crowds us with them; and he was ashamed of us because he got married and took his daughter from a boyar... his slave. And how should we serve our sister?”

Married life

According to the chroniclers:

The works that came out of the royal room are distinguished by a special “historicity” - a connection with state events or with the life of the royal family. “They reflected, as evidenced by dates and inscriptions, prayers for the heir to the throne, for the victory of the Russian army in the campaigns of Ivan the Terrible to Kazan, the idea of establishing the autocracy of the Moscow sovereign, his chosenness of God and royal patronage of the Orthodox peoples. These works mark an entire era in artistic life Moscow".
Among them:
- tombstones of St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow (GMMC),
- Venerable Kirill of Belozersky (Russian Russian Museum)
- Nikita, stylite of Pereyaslavl (VSMZ)
- shroud with a rare composition of the carrying of the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ to the tomb (PIAM)
- banners and hanging shrouds with images of the Mother of God, the Holy Trinity, Saints Demetrius of Thessalonica, Nikita the Warrior (Tretyakov Gallery, PZIKHMZ, KBMZ)
- curtain of the royal gates with the image of the Lord Jesus Christ the Great Bishop with the upcoming Mother of God, St. John the Baptist and with selected saints on the borders (Khilandar Monastery, Athos), sent by the king among other gifts in 1555. Athonite elders, who asked that “the sovereign should take their Hilandar monastery into his royal name.”
Banner-icon painters of different directions were involved in the creation of works: “originally Moscow (the cover of “St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow”, the banner “Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki”), the so-called. Makariev school (cover “Venerable Nikita, Stylite of Pereyaslavl”), Pskov (shroud (PIAM)), Yuzhslav. masters (cover “Golgotha” (SPGIAHMZ)), which played a role in the process of the formation of all-Russian culture.”
- She was buried in the Kremlin Ascension Monastery. A lot of people gathered for her funeral, “but there was a lot of crying for her, because she was merciful and kind to everyone.” At the funeral, Ivan sobbed and “from great lamentation and from the pity of his heart” could barely stand on his feet." All his life he remembered Anastasia with regret and compared his subsequent wives with her.
  
  For thirteen years he enjoyed complete family happiness, based on love for his tender and virtuous wife. Anastasia also gave birth to a son, Theodore, and a daughter, Evdokia; blossomed with youth and health: but in July 1560 she fell ill with a serious illness, multiplied by fear. In dry times, with a strong wind, the Arbat caught fire; clouds of smoke with flaming brands rushed towards the Kremlin. The Emperor took the sick Anastasia to the village of Kolomenskoye; he himself extinguished the fire, exposing himself to the greatest danger: he stood against the wind, showered with sparks, and with his fearlessness aroused such zeal in noble officials that Nobles and Boyars threw themselves into the flames, broke buildings, carried water, and climbed on roofs. This fire was renewed several times and was worth the battle: many people lost their lives or were left maimed. The queen became worse from fear and anxiety. The art of the doctors was not successful, and, to the despair of her husband, Anastasia died on August 7, at five o’clock in the afternoon... Never before has common grief been portrayed more touchingly and powerfully. Not the Court alone, but the whole of Moscow buried its first, dearest Queen. When the body was carried to the Maiden Ascension Monastery, the people did not give way to either the Clergy or the Nobles, crowding in the streets to the coffin. Everyone cried, and the poorest and beggars were the most inconsolable, calling Anastasia by the name of her mother. They wanted to give them the usual alms in such cases: they did not accept, shunning any joy on this day of sadness. John walked behind the coffin: the brothers, Princes Yuri, Vladimir Andreevich and the young Tsar of Kazan, Alexander, led him by the arms. He groaned and tore: one Metropolitan, shedding tears himself, dared to remind him of the firmness of a Christian... But they did not yet know what Anastasia had taken with her to the grave!
  Here is the end of the happy days of John and Russia: for he lost not only his wife, but also his virtue, as we will see in the next chapter
  
  Consequences of death
  
  The death of Anastasia Romanovna, which occurred under circumstances suggesting poisoning, became the cause of a sharp psychological crisis for Ivan the Terrible; suspecting those around her of her murder, he began the first noticeable campaign against the boyars and close advisers (before 1560, Ivan’s relations with high-ranking courtiers were already quite tense).
  The tsar himself wrote in his second message to Kurbsky: “ ...and why did you separate me from my wife? If only my youth had not been taken away from me, otherwise there would have been no Crown sacrifice". Ivan also pointed out that “ and poisoned Queen Anastasia».
  Prince Kurbsky in “The History of the Grand Duke of Moscow” wrote that the tsar blamed his former advisers, the priest Sylvester and A.F. Adashev, for the death of his wife, caused, according to Ivan the Terrible, by “sorcery.” There was no direct evidence, except for the testimony of the Polish woman Magdalena, a secret Catholic who lived in Adashev’s house, which was obtained under torture. At a joint meeting of the Boyar Duma and the consecrated Council, headed by St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, the accused were convicted.
  With the death of Queen Anastasia, the king became angry and very lascivious: “The Tsar, who had already died, began to be vehement and extremely adulterous” .
  
  7.08.1560 (20.08). - The death of Queen Anastasia, the first wife of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, who is the link between the Rurik and Romanov dynasties.
  After the official crowning (16.1.1547), in February 1547, the young Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich decided to get married and organized a show of the best brides from boyar and noble families. The choice of the Tsar settled on the daughter of the okolnik Roman Yuryevich Zakharyev from a family known since the middle of the 14th century, although not belonging to the highest nobility.
  “But it was not the nobility, but the personal merits of the bride that justified this choice, and contemporaries, depicting her properties, attributed to her all the feminine virtues for which they only found a name in the Russian language: chastity, humility, piety, sensitivity, kindness, combined with a thorough mind ; they don’t talk about beauty: for it was already considered a necessary accessory for the happy Tsar’s bride,” wrote N.M. Karamzin "History of the Russian State."
  Sources have preserved little information about the character and life of the first Russian Tsarina and the first, beloved wife of the Terrible Tsar. Anastasia, “small in stature, with a braid down to the floor, rich,” who was brought up in the seclusion of a boyar’s tower, did not have an imperious character and did not seek to influence her husband’s state affairs. However, the Tsar dedicated the capture of Kazan to her, his Queen.
  Wedding of Ivan the Terrible with Anastasia Romanova
  The chronicle says that “the kind Anastasia instructed and led John to all sorts of virtues,” pacifying his unrestrained temper. The Russian chronicler is echoed by a contemporary of Ivan the Terrible, a certain Englishman Dorset, who was in Moscow on trade business: “This Queen was so wise, virtuous, pious and influential that she was revered and loved by all her subordinates. The Grand Duke was young and hot-tempered, but she ruled him with amazing meekness and intelligence.”
  Gold embroidery of the grand ducal family's room.Double-sided banner, workshop of Anastasia Romanovna.
  
  Anastasia was talented: she did excellent embroidery and handicrafts. She is credited with opening the first gold-embroidery workshop in Russia, where the wives of boyars, archers, and merchants, noted for the art of “hooping,” worked at the same table. Shrouds, shrouds, shrouds, and airs were donated to the Church. There are no analogues to these works to this day, and those that have survived form priceless museum collections.
  
  "Our Lady Hodegetria"
  Anastasia gave birth to the king three sons and three daughters. The daughters died young, one son drowned, the second - according to one version (possibly exaggerated) - was “killed by his father.” And only the third, Theodore, would become the heir to the throne and, in 1584, the Tsar. By that time, Queen Anastasia would no longer be alive. In 1560 she dies in the village of Kolomenskoye, having survived a long illness.
  Historians have interpreted the reasons for such an early death in different ways. Most were inclined to believe that the young queen did not endure frequent childbirth. In one of the documents compiled by Ivan the Terrible himself, an assumption is made about the cause of death “and poisoned Queen Anastasia.” This added to Grozny’s hatred for other boyar intrigues. Research begun in 2000 confirmed the fact of poisoning. Together with specialists from the Bureau of Forensic Medicine of the Moscow Health Committee, geochemists conducted a spectral analysis of the queen’s perfectly preserved dark brown braid. And they found: the content of mercury salts in hair exceeds the norm several times. Mercury was the most common deadly poison in those days.
  Burial of Anastasia
  Experts also established the age of the Queen - she was no more than 25-26 years old. Probably, representatives of the highest nobility were interested in her death, who sought to eliminate Anastasia’s “seedy”, “non-princely” relatives from the Tsar’s entourage, where they occupied important government posts.
  All of Moscow was burying its first dear queen. When the body was carried to the Maiden Ascension Monastery, the people did not give way, crowding in the streets to the coffin. The beggars refused to take alms, so that on this sad day they would not feel the joy of satiety,” Karamzin said. The chronicles have preserved a vivid story about the experiences of the Terrible Tsar: he walked behind the coffin, supported by his arms, because “from great groaning and from the pity of his heart” he could barely stand on his feet.
  Nevertheless, Queen Anastasia, even after her death, played perhaps the most important role in Russian history - she became a link between the suppressed reigning branch of the Rurik dynasty and the new Romanov dynasty: Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, summoned by the Zemsky Sobor, was dear to everyone as a relative of the extinct royal family, “according to the property characteristic of the royal seed, God’s chosen color,” as the grandnephew of the unforgettable queen Anastasia Romanovna.

Sections

Tender love of a tyrant. Ivan the Terrible and Anastasia

Notes:

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Wedding

Married life

Consequences of death